Mission Accomplished

It's been a long and happy day.  The puppies woke me up at 3:30 - 4:00.  Rosie and Molly had succeeded in climbing out of the puppy box and the other two were making a big fuss.  I lay in my bed, just like I did thirty years ago when my baby twins were making a fuss  in the wee hours, hoping they would quiet down.  No deal.  I was up.  A quick check out the window at the thermometer told me why I was cold in the apartment - minus 18 F., and we're not talking about wind chill.  I got the fire built up quickly and picked up the fussy babies.  Today is the day they would leave us.  No more puppies.  My sadness was tempered by the joy in them going to such good homes.  My long-time fiber artist attorney friend, Carolyn D'Agostino, arranged this match with her high school friend, George Yostpile, in West Babylon, New York.  As luck would have it, George's sister-in-law was also looking for a puppy.  How fortunate the puppies would be related by marriage and see each other at holiday gatherings, etc!  We met at the Sloatsburg rest area on route 87 just north of the New Jersey line.  The weather, although bitter cold, was perfect.  I was shaking with excitement when I handed over the puppies, one by one, to the combined families who ALL came to pick up them up in a giant church van!  It was just too good to be true.  The kids immediately ran back to their van to get blankets to wrap the puppies in,  or stuffed them inside their jackets.    Mia and Andrew pulled in and the joy was complete.  Andrew had a carrier and a back seat full of new puppy chew toys ready for Sadie.  Shoshanna will go to Mia's college friend Corey's parents in Harmony who just lost their aged Springer Spaniel.   I couldn't dream up a better scenario for Reba's puppies if I tried.  We all hugged and said good-bye,  then Mia, Andrew, Matt and I visited for a while in Starbucks.  Mia is busy studying for her Nurse Practitioner boards coming up, and Andrew assured me that the 1% is still playing golf (he sells insurance to golf courses!)   After a nice chat the young couple drove off with their babies and we started home, snacking all the way on the goodies in the giant gift basket from the Yostpile and Valenti families.  I have delightful images of their kids cuddling and loving on the puppies.   It seems like yesterday we took Reba in after she had languished in the field across from Hollow Road for I don't know how long.  Now she is lying on the sofa watching the Giant's game, in no apparent distress at losing her puppies.   I think I will suffer more from puppy withdrawal.  Reba was a fantastic mother to them and her job is done.  Now she will live happily ever after on my farm.